Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'...

by Wootini

First, a disclaimer: If you did not enjoy Katamari Damacy... well, then you didn't actually ever play it... but if you didn't like the original, you're not going to like the sequel. And if you loved Katamari Damacy... well, then you've probably already bought and played the hell out of the sequel. But I'm gonna share my thoughts on it anyway.

We "Heart" Katamari is the sequel to the wildly original Katamari Damacy. So being a sequel, it's pretty much more of the same, with a few new wrinkles thrown in. But since the original was so fantastically fun, We "Heart" Katamari is just more of everything that made the first so awesome. You control a sticky ball called a katamari, and you roll around environments picking up objects to make your katamari as big as you can. Instead of replentishing the heavens with stars, you instead accept missions from various Katamari Damacy fans littered around a field which acts as your interactive menu screen. At least, once your dad, the King Of The Cosmos, gives you the go-ahead. So some missions are pretty standard fare, making the katamari a certain size in a certain time limit, others get a little more complicated. Rolling underwater turns out to be quite difficult, and making the head for a snowman lets you roll around as much as you want until its the size you like. The racetrack level is frenetic, as the katamari never stops rolling, so all you can do is steer. Ultimately, you'll reach levels where you start out rolling up vegetables and finish by picking up entire continents. The scale is seriously impressive. And the one where you roll up the rainclouds to clear the sky was pretty cool, too. And hell, you finish by rolling up the sun. Can't get much bigger than that!

Yeah, most of the game is stuff you've done before, and the soundtrack uses themes from the last title, so it's not as wildly original-sounding. The bizarre cut scenes are still hypnotically weird and make you feel like you're on drugs even if you're not, but aren't quite as hilarious as the original. But it's still a whole heck of a lot of fun, and just as addictive as the original. I certainly "heart" Katamari. It doesn't re-invent the wheel, but then again... it doesn't really have to.